8/27/2009 @ 6:00PM

America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes

Spending the rest of the summer in the infinity pool on your multimillion-dollar property? Don’t get too comfortable. This year, in some of the country’s most exclusive enclaves, it was home prices that took a dip.

Though Alpine, N.J., (07620) tops our list with a median asking price of $4.14 million, prices there fell 23% over the past year. Atherton, Calif., (94027) is the nation’s second most expensive ZIP code with a median asking price of $3.85 million, but prices there also declined by 23%. And New York’s once-bohemian West Village neighborhood (10014) is now fully gentrified, as demonstrated by its

third-place finish and $3.5 million median asking price. Still, over the past 12

months, prices in the West Village have fallen by 24%.

The ZIP codes on our list saw a 7% average drop in asking price. Overall,

only one-fifth of America’s Most Expensive ZIP Codes saw prices rise–and in

a few of those places the data were skewed by a single high-priced listing.